Hadley has been an independent soul from Day 1.
Of course, babies by nature are required to be dependent so you can imagine what a joy our little irascible spitfire was that first year.
As she has grown, she has blossomed and is becoming more enjoyable every year. She is both a social butterfly and also one who needs to be left alone to play, often for extended periods of time. Once, when her friend Alex was over, Hadley shut herself in her room claiming her needed some privacy.
Alex, the younger of five children, came and asked me what this “privacy” thing was all about.
I’ve never really worried about Hadley in social settings. She has been able to adapt to any situation we put her in and make friends. I had planned to have her ride the school bus on Mondays and then drop her off at school the other four days of the week prior to taking Bode to preschool. A few days after school started, Bode was having a rough morning so I left him with Jamie while I drove Hadley to school early. As we pulled out of the neighborhood, we spotted the school bus. I saw Hadley longingly look at it.
“Do you want to ride the bus?”
“YES!” And with that, she hopped out of the car and trotted over to the bus.
In retrospect, I probably should have double-checked to ensure it was actually going to her school. 
The point is, she needed no preparation whatsoever. I debated tailing the bus to school to ensure she figured out where she was supposed to go. But she was just fine.
Sometimes when I ask her who she played with at recess, she nonchalantly said she didn’t feel like playing with anyone. If this was Bode or anything other kid, I would be worried. “Oh no! She’s turning into a recluse!” or “Why isn’t she making any friends?”
But the great thing I’ve come to realize about her is she has plenty of friends. It’s just at the ripe ol’ age of 5 she’s already comfortable enough in her own skin to not need them around. Jamie and I are both the same way. When we were both single, we took huge vacations solo–I did Lake Mead and Colorado, he did Hawaii and Mexico. We figured if couldn’t find anyone to go with us, best to just go it alone.
But I don’t ever remember being quite as independent as Hadley at such a young age.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 